Scottish Executive

Council Tax

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2724 by Tavish Scott on 1 October 2003, what the average council tax bill is for a two-adult household where no discounts are applicable.

Tavish Scott: The Scotland average council tax per dwelling for 2003-04 for those chargeable dwellings which are not in receipt of any discount is £1,005.

Council Tax

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2724 by Tavish Scott on 1 October 2003, how many households are in receipt of a 50% discount because they qualify as second homes.

Tavish Scott: Second homes are not identified separately from other dwellings receiving a 50% discount. At 1 September 2003 there were 66,503 chargeable dwellings in Scotland subject to a 50% discount on council tax.

Council Tax

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2724 by Tavish Scott on 1 October 2003, how many households are in receipt of the single occupier discount of 25%.

Tavish Scott: There were 886,821 chargeable dwellings in receipt of 25% council tax discount on 1 September 2003, by virtue of containing a single liable adult.

Council Tax

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allow local authorities to cap council tax rises for pensioners or introduce exemptions from council tax, similar to such proposals by Her Majesty's Government.

Tavish Scott: Her Majesty’s Government has made no such proposals.

Enterprise

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise has conducted an assessment of the impact on small business advisory firms of its proposal for supply partner arrangements for business advice services and whether it will publish any such assessment.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements Highlands and Islands Enterprise is putting in place for supply partners for business advice services and whether these arrangements are anti-competitive.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence Highlands and Islands Enterprise has of support amongst small businesses for its supply partner proposal.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise approved the proposed arrangements for supply partners to deliver business advice services.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise consulted with any self-employed advisers or advisory representatives prior to announcing the launch of its supply partner scheme and advertising for suppliers.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role local enterprise companies and Highlands and Islands Enterprise will play in economic development in the highlands and islands once it has completed its arrangements for supply partners to secure business advice services.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the supply partner arrangements established by Highlands and Islands Enterprise will be the only route through which a business will be able to source advice in the highlands and islands and whether independent business advisers will be required to refer their clients to supply partners in order to access public sector support.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise examined the implications for self-employed advisers under the Inland Revenue IR35 assessment rules as part of any assessment of the impact of arrangements for the development of supply partners for business advice services and what the results were of any such assessment.

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise has ensured uniform quality standards for the provision of business advice services throughout its 10 local enterprise company areas and whether it has quality-assured other aspects of its operations.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is an operational matter for Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make any representations to Scottish Screen that no more funding should be provided for the documentary about the Holyrood project.

Mr Frank McAveety: Funding decisions are a matter for the board and management of Scottish Screen, but decisions by the Lottery Committee on the allocation of lottery funds, as in this case, must be taken in accordance with Department for Culture Media and Sport rules.

Language

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the recommendations of the report An Institute for the Languages of Scotland in relation to the commitment in A Partnership for a Better Scotland to "introduce a national language strategy to guide the development and support of Scotland's languages, including British Sign Language and ethnic community languages".

Mr Frank McAveety: We are currently preparing proposals for a national language strategy and the recommendations of the report An Institute for the Languages of Scotland are being considered as part of that process. Consultation on the strategy will take place in due course.

Less Favoured Areas

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland requesting it to publish its plans for implementing the proposed budget reduction in the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme and whether it will introduce measures to provide a safety net.

Ross Finnie: National Farmers Union Scotland issued a news release on 26 September urging the Executive to publish its plans for implementing the reduction in expenditure from £63 million in 2003 to the budgeted figure of £61 million. Changes to the 2004 Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) are still under discussion with the European Commission.

Local Government Finance

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made by the independent review into local government finance.

Tavish Scott: We are discussing the timing, remit and format of the review with COSLA. We will announce our conclusions when those discussions have been completed.

Local Government Finance

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how individuals and representative groups, including groups representing pensioners, will have an input into the independent review into local government finance.

Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3658 on 10 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Ministerial Visits

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers have made visits outwith Scotland since May 2003; to which destinations; for how long, and at what cost.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive does not hold records of ministerial visits within the United Kingdom. A record of ministerial visits outwith the United Kingdom is published annually; details for the financial year 2002-03 were set out in the answer given to question S2W-2904 on 25 September 2003.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

National Health Service

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-2515 and S2W-2516 by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 September 2003, whether it expects the annual administration costs of the new UK General Medical Services contract to be greater or less than the annual central administration costs of the current General Medical Services contract.

Malcolm Chisholm: As already stated in my previous answer S2W-2516 on 24 September 2003, work is currently under way on implementing the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract. Until this work is complete it is not possible to say whether the annual administration costs of the new UK GMS contract will be more or less than the annual central administration costs for the current GMS contract.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1500 by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 August 2003, whether the responses to the consultation paper on the reform of the NHS complaints procedure have now been published and, if so, whether they are publicly available and whether the minister’s response to that consultation paper has been made and, if so, whether it is publicly available.

Malcolm Chisholm: The responses to the consultation paper on the reform of the NHS complaints procedure have now been published on the Scottish Health on the Web site. The URL is as follows http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/complaints/.

  We have commissioned Scottish Health Feedback to provide independent analysis of these responses and their document will be made available on this website.

  My response to this analysis and the Scottish Health Feedback report will be available very shortly at the URL above.

Opencast Mining

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an assessment has been conducted on the health of communities living in close proximity to opencast coal mines and, if not, whether an assessment is planned.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3288 on 3 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the research facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Opencast Mining

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence there is regarding any correlation between the level of diagnosis of (a) cancer and (b) asthma and communities’ proximity to opencast coal mines and whether there are plans to instigate research into any such correlation.

Malcolm Chisholm: In relation to asthma and respiratory health more generally, I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3288 on 3 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the research facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  The Scottish Executive is not aware of any credible evidence or rationale for an increase in the risk of cancer for communities close to opencast sites and has no plans to instigate further research.

Opencast Mining

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether research has been commissioned into the health implications of opencast mine developments.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3288 on 3 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the research facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search wa .

People with Disabilities

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to enforce the law on disabled parking bays.

Cathy Jamieson: Under section 47 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, a driver may be issued with a fixed penalty notice if his or her vehicle is not displaying the requisite badge while parked in a designated disabled person’s parking bay.

  The power to inspect such badges, under section 73 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, is being commenced in January 2004 to address abuse of the badge scheme. This section will bring in a new offence of refusing to produce a badge when requested to do so by the police, traffic wardens or local authority parking attendants.

Police

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2362 by Cathy Jamieson on 18 September 2003, how many operational police officers there were per head of population in each police force area in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: Information at this level of detail is not held centrally. Work is under way to ensure that statistics on operational police officers will be made available in the future.

Police

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected number is of operational police officers per head of population in each police force area for the next three years.

Cathy Jamieson: In our partnership agreement, we committed to increase the number of police officers on operational duty in every Scottish force. This commitment builds on an undertaking by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland in March 2003 to make it a priority to return a further 250 police officers to operational policing roles by 2006. The conclusion of the contract for the prisoner escort and court custody tasks which was signed on 3 November 2003 will also release up to 300 officers to be re-deployed to other front line duties. Work is under way to ensure that statistics on operational police officers is made available in the future.

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in its review of prescription charges, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Malcolm Chisholm: Detailed proposals for the conduct of the review are currently being prepared. Whilst it is not possible to give details of these proposals at present, they can be expected to include a wide ranging consultation with patient interest groups, NHS professionals and other key stakeholders.

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the A95 south of Grantown on Spey.

Nicol Stephen: We are undertaking the survey and design work for improvements at Lackgie and design work is almost complete for a £1.8 million road re-alignment scheme between Gaich and Craggan. In addition we will continue to undertake on-going maintenance work on the route.

Scottish Agricultural College

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students are enrolled at each Scottish Agricultural College campus, expressed also as whole-time equivalents.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is set out in the table. The information relates to the Scottish Agricultural College’s main education programmes as at 28 October 2003.

  

 Campus
 Student Headcount
 Student Full-time 
  Equivalents (FTEs)


 Aberdeen
 213
 186.5


 Ayr
 376
 363.5


 Edinburgh
 130
 129.5


 Totals
 719
 679.5

Scottish Water

Campbell Martin (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions Scottish Water has been prosecuted and fined and whether such fines are paid from Scottish Water's funds or another public source.

Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answers given to S2W-3214 and S2W-3221 on 31 October 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants were engaged by Scottish Water in 2002-03 and what the total cost was.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees have left Scottish Water since its establishment.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water.

Scottish Water

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether land and buildings belonging to Scottish Water are Crown property and therefore exempt from planning and building regulations and what directions have been given to, or protocols agreed with, Scottish Water to ensure that works carried out by, or for, it comply with planning and building requirements.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Land owned by Scottish Water is not Crown property and does not therefore benefit from Crown immunity from planning and building regulations. Scottish Water has therefore not been given any directions by, nor have they agreed any protocols with, the Scottish Executive to comply with planning and building requirements.

Skye Bridge

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1477 by Nicol Stephen on 7 August 2003, what the detailed breakdown was of the £39 million construction cost of the Skye Bridge, including construction, fees, building of approach roads, and interest payments to the private financiers of the project and whether these costs were funded directly through public spending or through revenue from tolls.

Nicol Stephen: The breakdown of costs is set out in Figure 2 of the Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General – The Skye Bridge (HC5 Session 1997-98). Further details of the terms of the Skye Bridge contract and the financial position of the project are now the subject of commercially confidential negotiations with Skye Bridge Limited.

Skye Bridge

Mr Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current financial position is of the Skye Bridge, detailing what the original cost of the bridge was less the public funding that was made available, how much has been received in tolls since the bridge opened, discounted in line with the terms of the financing contract, and what the outstanding balance is on the repayment of the cost of the bridge.

Nicol Stephen: The total cost of the Skye Bridge project was £39 million (at 1991 prices) of which some £15 million was publicly funded. The remaining £23.64 million is the agreed cost to be recovered through tolling by the concessionaire.

  Tolls collected to June 2003 amounted to £27.2 million in cash terms. Further details of the terms of the Skye Bridge contract and the financial position of the project are now the subject of commercially confidential negotiations with Skye Bridge Limited.

Voluntary Sector

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the voluntary organisations to which it has allocated (a) direct grants, indicating the amount awarded in each case and (b) indirect grants, indicating the amount offered in each case, in 2003-04.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have today arranged for the release of a spreadsheet detailing direct and indirect grants to voluntary organisations in 2003-04. In 2003-04, the Executive will be providing £262 million directly and £112 million indirectly, £374 million in total, to the voluntary sector in Scotland. This is an increase of £15 million from last year, reflecting the Scottish Executive’s continued commitment to the sector.

  Copies of the spreadsheets are available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre and the Scottish Executive website (Bib. numbers 29866 – Direct, and 29867 – Indirect).

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scotland House

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer how many staff the Parliament employs in Scotland House and what their functions and annual costs are.

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body plans to change the number of staff that the Parliament employs in Scotland House.

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what the cost was of establishing a Parliamentary presence in Scotland House and what the annual running costs are, including details of rent paid for accommodation in Scotland House.

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer who is responsible for directing work carried out by the Parliament’s staff in Scotland House.

Mr Andrew Welsh (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) has one member of staff based in Brussels on a fixed term basis for one year from April 2003. This was agreed by the SPCB at its meeting of 7 January 2003.

  The staff member is line managed by the Head of the External Liaison Unit and by the Clerk/Chief Executive. Reports on his work are submitted every month to the Corporate Body.

  The remit of the member of staff, agreed by the SPCB, is, in accord with the recommendations contained in the European Committee’s 5th Report of 2002 on Scotland’s Representation in the European Union:

  to research and produce a report to the SPCB on the options for and the practical aspects of establishing a more permanent Scottish Parliament presence in Brussels,

  to provide support for MSPs who serve as delegates to the Committee of the Regions and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe, and

  to support visiting MSPs on parliamentary business.

  The member of staff works in office space leased to Scotland Europa in Scotland House. The SPCB is paying 15,429.48 euros to Scotland Europa for the use of this office space from April 2003 until April 2004. MSPs and parliamentary staff can also use hot-desk facilities in the office space as a part of the agreement with Scotland Europa.

  Overall, the anticipated maximum annual running costs for the one year posting are £70,000, which includes the office costs, and the member of staff’s salary, allowances and travel expenses etc.

  The SPCB will consider future arrangements on the options for, and the practical aspects of, establishing a more permanent Scottish Parliament presence in Brussels upon receipt of a report by the member of staff in Brussels in early 2004.

Scotland House

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what representations, and on what issues, the Parliament’s staff in Scotland House have made to (a) UKRep and (b) directly to EU institutions.

Mr Andrew Welsh (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The remit, agreed by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), of the member of staff based in Brussels on a fixed term basis for one year from April 2003 is:

  to research and produce a report to the SPCB on the options for and the practical aspects of establishing a more permanent Scottish Parliament presence in Brussels,

  to provide support for MSPs who serve as delegates to the Committee of the Regions and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe, and

  to support visiting MSPs on parliamentary business.

  The member of staff has had contact with officials in UKRep, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, and with MEPs, in connection with this work.